


here where the night holds the dawn in its keeping

by lilac-vode (MollyMerula)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Gen, No Romance, content warnings: brief mention of strangulation (in dream; not fatal); description of panic attack, ghost crew @ kallus: congratulations! you are loved. please do not resist, spectre fam softness, title is a line from 'the simplest things' by andrea lindsay :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MollyMerula/pseuds/lilac-vode
Summary: Kallus is well acquainted with sleepless nights, but having someone to help him through them is a new experience entirely. (Set a few days after Zero Hour: Part 2)
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus & Sabine Wren
Comments: 11
Kudos: 54





	here where the night holds the dawn in its keeping

When nothing else works to quiet his mind, Kallus has always relied on a bit of reading to get to sleep. Luckily for him, the Ghost is stocked with an eclectic collection of books, and in the handful of days that have passed since he joined the crew, he has already spent hours leafing through a few of them, learning about subjects he never would have thought to wonder about. But regardless of how he preoccupies his mind in the evenings, it seems that no diversion is enough to keep him from waking in the blackness from a dreamless sleep, paralyzed with a fear he cannot name. Worse are the nights like this one, where his dreams turn dark and suddenly he is back in a dimly lit room, flat on the floor with those cold blue fingers curling tighter and tighter around his throat.

Kallus awakens gasping, scrabbling at his neck for a hand that isn't there. It takes a moment for his mind to tumble out from the murky depths of sleep. When he opens his eyes, his surroundings come as a surprise, and a relief. He lies still and tries to focus on the gentle hum of the Ghost’s systems, a sound he has found soothing since stepping aboard for the first time. But despite his attempts to relax, the hammering of his heart refuses to slow, and he can’t stop his body from shivering.

Kallus kicks at the tangle of blankets around his feet and sits up, trying to shake the dream from his head. As his eyes adjust to the darkness, he realizes there’s a figure standing in the doorway. Squinting a little, he recognizes Sabine, silhouetted against the Ghost’s softly lit corridor. When she sees that he’s awake, she steps silently into the room.

“Just thought I’d check on you,” she whispers, making her way to the side of his bed. “Rough night, huh?”

Caught off guard by her concern, Kallus rubs his face and gives her a shaky nod. He means to say more, but the words won’t come out of his mouth; they feel stuck in his throat, along with the air he can’t seem to get enough of. When he looks up, he sees a kindness in her eyes that takes him by surprise.

“Are you okay? You’re shaking.” Sabine reaches out to place a steadying hand on his shoulder. Kallus flinches a little, his back stiffening involuntarily. The most contact he’s used to is a rough bumping of shoulders with another officer striding down the same hallway, looking the other way and expecting him to veer first. But this touch is gentle, so gentle it takes his breath away. A prickling feeling rises in his nose, and he squeezes his eyes shut. Before he can do anything else, he feels a weight settle next to him as Sabine sits down on his bed. Reassured by her presence, he draws a shuddering breath and finds his voice at last.

“I wouldn’t have blamed you, you know. If you didn’t trust me. After everything. But it looks like I don’t need to worry about that.”

Sabine is quiet for a moment; then she scoots a little closer to him. “I know what it’s like to lose everything. When my people turned against me, I had nowhere to go. You had so much to lose, and you gave it up willingly. To help us. For me, that’s all the proof of your loyalty I need.” She reaches for his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I was with the Empire once too, remember? And Kanan and Hera took me in, no questions asked. I put the same trust in you.”

Kallus is too overwhelmed by her words to do anything but sit there and sniffle. Then Sabine rests her head on his shoulder, and this time he leans into the touch, struggling to slow his still-panicky breaths until finally they match the even slowness of her own. For a time, the two of them sit there in silence; then Sabine’s soft voice breaks the stillness.

“If we’re gonna be awake anyway, we might as well make some tea. Do you have a favorite kind?”

Kallus, who isn’t used to anything more than the Empire’s lackluster and chronically oversteeped version of the beverage, mulls the question over for a moment before he responds.

“Not yet. But I think I’m looking forward to finding that out.”


End file.
